Recommended

PremiereOurea on Horo

Looking through the discography of Samuel Wood, aka Sam KDC, his releases seem to get exponentially slower and darker as time goes on. Cutting his teeth in the D&B world around 2010 with atmospheric 170 BPM releases on the likes of 31 Records and DSM, the last few years has seen Wood’s sound slow to grinding, cavern dwelling ambience on albums like Cycles of Perspective and KVLTVR.

Recently, Berlin based label Horo announced a new project from Wood, entitled Ourea, alongside Japanese artist Maiko Okimoto. Okimoto’s musical history appears to have followed similar path, providing vocals for D&B producers like ENA and Naibu under the alias Key MC. Recently, Okimoto began a new project, Lemna. Focused on leftfield techno, her live show will premiere in Berlin’s monolithic Kraftwerk building as part of Berlin Atonal later this year.

Okimoto and Wood’s EP together is entitled ‘Ourea I’, due for release August 25. Even without reading their biographies, it wouldn’t take much guesswork to establish the release was the efforts of two D&B producers turning their hand to techno. The release is littered with shuffled poly-rhythms and showcases the razor-sharp production those who have spent some time working with fast-paced dance music seem to master better than anyone. ‘Deception at Mekone’ rumbles beneath quivering metallic textures while ‘Dysnomia’ clatters forth, blackened atmospherics undulating beneath contorted rhythms and UFO modulations.

Then there is ‘Adamantine Sickle’, easing out resonances and distorted thuds in a dense, brooding offering to early hours warehouse techno. Horo have kindly offered us an exclusive stream of the track below: